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CMS-1403-FC
with comment period for nonprofit facilities will have a
0.7 percent decrease in overall payments relative to
current overall payments. The majority of ESRD facilities
will experience impacts of less than 3 percent of total
revenues. We note that although the overall effect of the
wage index changes is budget neutral, there are increases
and decreases based on the location of individual
facilities. The analysis and discussion provided in this
section XVI.F. of this final rule with comment period
complies with the RFA requirements.
For the e-prescribing provisions, physician practices
and independent pharmacies are considered small entities.
Because we acknowledge that many of the affected
entities are small entities, the analysis discussed
throughout the preamble of this rule constitutes our final
regulatory flexibility analysis for the remaining
provisions and addresses comments received on these issues.
Section 1102(b) of the Act requires us to prepare a
regulatory impact analysis if a rule may have a significant
impact on the operations of a substantial number of small
rural hospitals. This analysis must conform to the
provisions of section 604 of the RFA. For purposes of
section 1102(b) of the Act, we define a small rural
hospital as a hospital that is located outside a
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